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30-632: Modelled on the Milford Proving Ground operated by General Motors (GM) in Michigan , Millbrook was opened in the 1960s by the GM subsidiary Bedford before passing over to Vauxhall . Due to the geographical needs of a full testing centre, including both hills and flat land, the traditional choice of a former Royal Air Force airfield was ruled out and many sites around the UK were surveyed before

60-458: A carburetor plant and two hydroelectric stations intended to allow residents to maintain their agricultural work while working in the factories. The former carburetor plant was demolished in 2002. The Art Deco station still remains on Pettibone Creek in the village, and restoration work began in 2004. The summer of 2017 was the first year that the village has allowed golf carts on their streets. By November, only 10 carts were registered. As

90-434: A 4.7 kilometers (2.9 mi) 4 lane circular track (speed bowl), 5.5 kilometers (3.4 mi) and handling course, a 1.8 kilometers (1.1 mi) noise road and 98 meters (107 yd) diameter skid pan . It is also equipped with an Emissions Laboratory and Safety Test Facility with crash barrier and HYGE sled. In February 2020 GM announced the test track and design centre would close with all jobs being redundant to reflect

120-636: A proving ground near Dudenhofen , Germany [3] , opened in 1964. Facilities include a 4.8 kilometers (3.0 mi) high-speed circuit, a 900 meters (980 yd) section of Belgian pavé and a hill circuit with gradients up to 30%. Opel operates a winter climate proving ground near Arjeplog , Sweden . Most of the tracks are on the lake ice. Arjeplog has an average temperature of −11 °C (12 °F) in January. 38°21′14″S 145°35′27″E  /  38.353889°S 145.590833°E  / -38.353889; 145.590833 The Lang Lang Proving Ground

150-458: A village, Milford is provided assessing, counties and school districts tax collecting and elections administration for county, state and national by Milford Township. The Village of Milford is a Michigan home rule village with a council-manager form of government. The village is governed by a local charter adopted by village electors. The village council appoints a Village Manager to serve as the CAO of

180-399: A wide range of types of test tracks. The most prominent are the: The proving ground maintains a high standard of security and secrecy to protect the commercial interests of its customers. Public access is not generally permitted and the facility is hidden from view. Limited supervised access to the facilities is available through some driver training organisations. Millbrook has been used in

210-521: Is a vehicle testing facility located at Lang Lang, Victoria , Australia, approximately 90 kilometers (56 mi) south-east of Melbourne . It was opened in 1957 by Holden on a 2,152 acres (871 ha) site off the Bass Highway . It was used to test every Holden model from the Holden FC onwards. It is a dedicated 877-hectare site with 44 kilometers (27 mi) of road systems, including

240-455: Is a facility co-built and leased by General Motors located within the US Army 's Yuma Proving Ground , near Yuma, Arizona . The facility came fully online as of July 2009. The site contains an inner facility sitting on 2,400 acres (970 ha) with a 24-acre (9.7 ha) campus containing 98,000 square feet (9,100 m ) of building area and also has 40 miles (64 km) of roadway. One of

270-499: The census of 2010, there were 6,175 people, 2,589 households, and 1,719 families living in the village. The population density was 2,541.2 inhabitants per square mile (981.2/km ). There were 2,777 housing units at an average density of 1,142.8 per square mile (441.2/km ). The racial makeup of the village was 95.7% White , 0.6% African American , 0.6% Native American , 0.7% Asian , 0.7% from other races , and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.0% of

300-945: The GM decision to quit global right hand drive vehicle production. In September 2020, it was sold to VinFast . It will continue to be used by GM Specialty Vehicles . In October 2021, VinFast disbanded its local engineering operations and put the Lang Lang Proving Ground test track up for sale. As of 2024, VinFast has not found a buyer for the track. 31°02′39″N 119°25′33″E  /  31.044266°N 119.425751°E  / 31.044266; 119.425751 Shanghai GM (SGM) and Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), both joint-ventures of SAIC Motor with GM China , opened in September 2012 China's largest proving ground in Guangde County , Anhui , China . GM's proposed facility at Mezcala, Mexico

330-602: The Hubbell Pond was created by a dam built on the Huron River to generate electricity . The village was incorporated in 1869. Hydropower made it possible for Milford to become one of the first communities to have electric lights, in 1892. A year later, telephone service was available in the Village. As a point of reference, nearby South Lyon did not have electric lights until 1932. By 1939, Henry Ford built

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360-399: The average family size was 3.09. In the village, the population was spread out, with 28.6% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males. The median income for a household in

390-444: The filming of many television programmes and films including: 52°02′36″N 0°32′20″W  /  52.04331°N 0.53886°W  / 52.04331; -0.53886 General Motors Proving Grounds#Milford Proving Ground General Motors operates several proving grounds . 32°55′11″N 114°19′24″W  /  32.919818°N 114.323366°W  / 32.919818; -114.323366 Desert Proving Ground Yuma

420-576: The government, responsible for the management of the village's daily operations and oversight of all departments. Milford is a part of the Huron Valley School District . This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Milford has

450-507: The grounds are mostly abandoned, and only a local security staff remains. This is due to the volatile, potentially unsafe situation in the region and the access routes to/from Cupuán. 23°08′33″S 47°16′10″W  /  23.1425°S 47.269444°W  / -23.1425; -47.269444 General Motors Cruz Alta Proving Ground at Indaiatuba, Brazil [1] 49°59′34″N 8°55′23″E  /  49.992777°N 8.923055°E  / 49.992777; 8.923055 Opel operates

480-449: The grounds is the same as 5 miles (8.0 km) in the real world. 18°46′59″N 102°10′07″W  /  18.783056°N 102.168611°W  / 18.783056; -102.168611 General Motors Proving Ground Cupuan del Rio is situated between Lázaro Cárdenas and Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico. The facility opened in 2006 and features a circle track, several off-road courses, and is primarily used for testing HVAC systems. As of 2011

510-603: The location at Millbrook was decided upon, especially due to having the benefit of being close to Vauxhall's production site at Luton . Construction of the Proving Ground began in 1968, and once the facility opened in 1970 it acted as the testing site for many European GM models from, among others, the Vauxhall and Bedford companies. With Bedford withdrawing from the bus and truck markets in December 1986, Millbrook

540-496: The main reasons that this site was chosen was the already imposed no fly zone which helps prevent unwanted photography of pre-production prototypes undergoing testing. The facility is also used by the US Army for their own testing requirements. Other such features are: 42°35′01″N 83°41′04″W  /  42.583603°N 83.684449°W  / 42.583603; -83.684449 The General Motors Milford Proving Ground

570-413: The mill was erected in the "Township" at that time, and that formal organization would occur in 1834. That same year, the first gristmill was erected by Luman Fuller. In 1835, the first post office was established with Aaron Phelps as postmaster . The Lower Mill Pond was created in 1836 to provide waterpower for the various types of mills and factories. The Upper Mill Pond followed in 1845. In 1911,

600-409: The population. There were 2,427 households, out of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and

630-442: The population. There were 2,589 households, of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.6% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

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660-483: The village was $ 59,688, and the median income for a family was $ 71,333. Males had a median income of $ 53,393 versus $ 31,935 for females. The per capita income for the village was $ 26,159. About 6.5% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 13.0% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over. The village of Milford began with the building of a sawmill by Elizur and Stanley Ruggles in 1832. Early county records indicate that

690-412: The village. The population density was 2,560.7 inhabitants per square mile (988.7/km ). There were 2,491 housing units at an average density of 1,017.0 per square mile (392.7/km ). The racial makeup of the village was 97.35% White , 0.16% African American , 0.38% Native American , 0.49% Asian , 0.35% from other races , and 1.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.32% of

720-439: Was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age in the village was 40.8 years. 23.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.8% were from 25 to 44; 30.9% were from 45 to 64; and 12.9% were 65 years of age or older. The sex makeup of the village was 47.4% male and 52.6% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 6,272 people, 2,427 households, and 1,706 families living in

750-647: Was 6,175 at the time of the 2010 census . The village is located within Milford Township . The village is known for being the home of the Milford General Motors Proving Ground . According to the United States Census Bureau , the village has a total area of 2.52 square miles (6.53 km ), of which 2.43 square miles (6.29 km ) is land and 0.09 square miles (0.23 km ) is water. As of

780-597: Was a General Motors facility for the testing of HVAC, propulsion, and various automotive systems in a harsh climate. Opened in 1953, the closure of this facility was completed in 2009. It was replaced by a new facility in Yuma, Arizona , known as the Desert Proving Ground Yuma. Milford, Michigan Milford is a village in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan . The population

810-541: Was purchased by Rutland Partners. In September 2016 it was sold to Spectris . In December 2020 it was announced that Millbrook would be divested from the Spectris portfolio of companies and acquired by UTAC CERAM for £133 million. The divestment was completed on the 2 February 2021. The centre provides vehicle test and development facilities including: These are staffed by engineering teams who work with manufacturers on their test and development programmes. Millbrook has

840-417: Was put up for sale by GM. In 1988 the site was transferred to a new company, Millbrook Proving Ground Limited as part of Lotus and offered its facilities to non-GM companies. With the sale of Lotus in 1993 Millbrook was transferred to GM Holdings UK Limited, as an independently managed company which diversified into all aspects of vehicle testing including emission control . In October 2013, the proving ground

870-560: Was terminated in the planning phase due to breakdown in land negotiations. The facility was to take over Desert Proving Ground tasks when GM announced DPG's closing in 2000. DPG is still operating as of late 2008. Soon to be closed and replaced with the new facility in Yuma, Arizona. 33°19′27″N 111°37′13″W  /  33.324265°N 111.620192°W  / 33.324265; -111.620192 GM Desert Proving Ground in Mesa, Arizona , USA

900-651: Was the industry's first dedicated automobile testing facility when it opened in 1924. It is the longest continuously operating proving grounds in the world. It is located in Milford, Michigan and covers 4,000 acres (1,600 ha). 4,800 staff work in its 142 buildings today. The proving ground includes the equivalent of 132 miles (212 km) of roads representative of conditions found on public roadways and other specialty surfaces for vehicle testing. Some roads are open only to drivers who have passed special performance driving training. The saying goes that each mile driven on

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